


Now That He's Gone

by La_Marquise



Category: Psycho-Pass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2016-01-30
Packaged: 2018-05-17 07:30:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5859808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/La_Marquise/pseuds/La_Marquise
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone in Division 1 deals with the loss of a colleague in their own way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Now That He's Gone

**Author's Note:**

> Just reposting something I wrote on tumblr about Division 1 after Kagari's death.

The fact of Kagari’s disappearance did not hit Division 1 all at once.

On that initial drive back to headquarters Akane took note of the silence in the car, finding it to be more stifling than usual. Kougami, usually one to roll his eyes at Kagari’s usual post-work commentary and ask for quiet, reached over and turned the radio on.

***

The following morning had begun as usual, but a tangible pall hung over the office. Kagari’s desk, still cluttered with action figures and colorful candy wrappers loomed empty. A half-finished can of soda sat in a puddle of condensation, and it looked for all the world as though Kagari would come sauntering into the room, business as usual.

“I guess they’ll be cleaning out his desk soon,” Kougami muttered, and Masaoka poured a generous splash of bourbon into his coffee mug.

***

Throughout the day, Kagari’s disappearance and likely fate hung over the entire office, a Damoclean sword that threatened them all. No one brought it up, no one spoke his name, no one really acknowledged his absence.

It wasn’t until the end of the day that he was brought up again. “Good kid, Kagari.” Masaoka nodded in the direction of the vacant desk.

“Yeah,” Kougami answered. “Good kid.”

“Wherever he is, I hope he’s happy.” Even as he spoke, Masaoka’s eyes met with Kougami’s, and they nodded in mutual understanding. They knew.

***

Ginoza hadn’t commented on Kagari’s disappearance since he’d made the report, choosing instead to go one as usual. When Akane had asked him if he was all right, he’d only snapped that yes, he was fine, why shouldn’t he be? It was unprofessional to become attached to one’s subordinates, after all.

***

Two days later, Akane walked into the office to find Kagari’s desk cleared off and empty. “Where did they put his things?” she’d asked, knowing the answer already.

“They’ve been disposed of. Incinerated probably.” Yayoi hadn’t looked up from her computer as she’d responded.

“Why?”

Yayoi shrugged. “It’s not like he’ll be needing any of it anymore, is it?”

***

The next day, Kagari’s dorm was cleaned out. His possessions were removed, the bed stripped, the furniture sterilized. The whole process took less than three hours. In less than three hours, Kagari’s presence at MWPSB had been erased, and the space that he’d once occupied was clear and ready for the next enforcer to move into.

***

“You know, I like to think he got away.” Karanomori took a drag of her cigarette before stubbing it out into a nearby ashtray. “Kagari, I mean.” Her arm curled around Yayoi’s waist. “He deserved much better than what he got.”

Yayoi only nodded and said nothing.

***

Enforcers died with relative frequency in their line of work. Some were killed in the field, others allowed their crime coefficients to reach an unacceptable level and were subsequently disposed of. In either case, there was always something left of them. Friends, family. In Sasayama’s case, there’d at least been a photograph. Not so of Kagari. No trace of him remained.

“We should’ve saved something. You know? Something of his, I mean. To show that he was at least here.” Akane turned to Kougami, who was lighting up his ninth cigarette of the day. “Right?”

Kougami blew out a puff of smoke. “But we didn’t.”

***

“It gets easier.” Masaoka laid a comforting hand on Akane’s shoulder as she stared at what had once been Kagari’s desk. “I know it’s hard to believe, you being new and all, but it’s true. People come and go, and eventually you get used to it. You’ll see.”

“I know.” Akane nodded. “It just seems so wrong, doesn’t it? It wasn’t fair, what happened to him.”

Masaoka had let out a sharp rueful laugh and shaken his head. “I’ve been in this business a long time, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that very few things in life are.”

***

Some time later, Kougami went missing. The MWPSB was in disarray, and as Division 1 struggled to understand just what Kougami’s motives were, Kagari faded into distant memory. In such chaotic times, the exact fate of an enforcer with no known relatives was not a priority, and soon mentions of his name, fond recounting of his antics and speculations as to his fate become fewer and fewer, and finally his name just wasn’t mentioned anymore.

It would seem that life is indeed unfair.


End file.
